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Report from our summer learning lab

– Published 27 June 2014

This week, when the Swedish sun pretty much never sets, we again gathered out current student, many of our past students (once a student alway a student) and several future students for another learning lab focusing on the ethical aspects of safety. During five days we have, together with Professor Sidney Dekker,  struggled with topics of just culture, second victimisation, suffering and organisational learning. 

As usual, laboratory work cannot be done by theory alone. During this week we have been honored by the visit of Stefan Rasmussen, who was the captain of the Scandinavian MD 80 crashing in a field outside of Stockholm following a dual engine failure during the christmas weekend of 1991. All 129 souls onboard walked out alive. But Stefan was never back in the pilot seat. We spent the full Wednesday this week listening to his story trying to make sense of what counts in the aftermath of accidents. On the Thursday one of our year-one students shared his story of being involved in an accident in anaesthesiological care. Contrasting the two cases our laboratory work has focused on the mechanisms that can contribute to people coping or even thriving in the aftermath of being involved in accidents and trauma. 

Thank you all participants, and specifically Sidney Dekker, for contributing to making this another truly great learning laboratory!